Lukan cleared his throat. "You can explain those details to Morass when you brief him." He turned to leave, then paused and pointed at his uncle's informa. "I will see myself out. Program my eye to your door scanner."
Felix slipped his informa into his pocket and pulled out his filthy handkerchief again. After a show of nose and mouth wiping, he said, "That is not possible, Highness. At the moment, Morass obeys you. As you know, I have had trouble changing the commands on the ice crystal, and thus, he has already betrayed me, twice. I would hate for it to happen for a third time, particularly with a command as important as this one."
Lukan couldn't stop his head from shaking. So this was it: the moment he was expected to pledge his soul by becoming complicit in regicide. He glared at Felix, but his objection was pointless.
Wishing he could lock himself away in his archives forever, he took the vial of poison and the crossbow his uncle held out to him and made his way to Morass.
Chapter 39
Axel strode through the palace toward Lynx's apartment. How could Lukan be so stubborn? Did he not see that assassinating Mott was the only workable solution to their problem?
Axel swiped his hand against a statue of some long-forgotten emperor, wishing it were Lukan's face he was hitting. His cousin was a weak-willed coward. For years, Axel had tried to persuade Lukan to stand up to his father. Again and again, he had explained the psyche of a bully, hoping it would help his cousin understand-and manage-Mott. But Lukan had given no heed to his counsel, preferring instead to let him or Tao take his punishments for him.
Now Lukan would die for that failure.
Axel took the stairs to Lynx's apartment two at a time. It surprised him to see no sentries at the top of landing. Stefan had changed the roster this morning, putting two of his men here to guard Lynx. Why had his father withdrawn them? He sped up, jogging to the doorway of the sitting room Lynx and her sister shared.
The sound of raised voices pulled him up short.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Tao and Kestrel sat together on the sofas, deep in conversation. If anything had happened to Lynx, Tao, at least, would not just be sitting around. Lynx had to be in her bed chamber, giving her sister the chance to speak with her betrothed. Kestrel's angry voice reached him. Torn between his need to barge in to join Lynx and his respect for Tao's privacy, he hesitated at the door.
"I needed you today, Tao," Kestrel shrilled, "and you weren't there for me. Do you have any idea how terrible it was in that maze? I got punched-punched!-by some girl who wanted my bracelets, even though I saw them first."
Axel decided to slip past them to find Lynx. He had just entered the room, when Kestrel said, "Do you mind? I'm having a private conversation here."
Axel held up his hands. "Sorry. Just looking for Lynx." He smiled at the purple bruising around her right eye. His eyes dropped to her wrist. Yes, a pair of golden bracelets. He wondered what damage her opponent now sported if Kestrel had won the trophy.
"This is too much," Kestrel insisted. "Can't you hear that I am talking to Tao? Just leave."
Tao pulled a face at Axel and mouthed, "Sorry,"
Axel shrugged and stepped back into the passageway. Loath to move too far from Lynx, he leaned his elbow on the windowsill and stared out into the night. He heard Tao sigh.
"Look, I've already told you, I'm really sorry you got hit. But I did try to warn-"
"Tao," Kestrel interrupted sharply. "Are you going to spend our whole marriage chasing after my sister?"
Reluctant eavesdropper though he was, Axel frowned. Every time he'd spotted Tao and Kestrel at the ball, her eyes had been fixed on Lukan.
"That's not fair." Tao sounded aggrieved, as if he, too, were aware of Kestrel's double standard. "Lynx and I are friends, nothing more."
"That's nonsense! My sister would rather walk barefoot over burning coals than make friends with a Chenayan. So why did you insist on running after her? I asked you to stay with me after I finally escaped that hideous maze."
"You're wrong about Lynx. I know a friend when I meet one, so I couldn't just leave it when she disappeared. That's not what friends do."
"It is a maze, and you didn't chase after me, even though I'm supposed to be your betrothed."
"You went through the archway so fast, I knew it would be pointless to follow. I would never have found you." Another sigh from Tao. "And I wouldn't have had to if you had stayed with me as I asked."
Axel rolled his eyes, feeling nothing but pity for Tao. Marriage to Kestrel wasn't going to be fun. Tao's pain was almost enough to console him regarding his own situation. Almost, but not quite. He tapped his fingers on the windowsill, wishing they would finish this argument so he could get to Lynx.
Kestrel's voice droned on. "All I wanted was to have some fun. You could have shared the moment with me."
"The maze isn't a moment I want to share with anyone. But I get that you're cross, and I'm sorry if you feel I neglected you." Tao's voice had a tone of finality to it.
Axel straightened up and was about to walk back to the room when his cousin added in a sharper voice, "Now I need an apology and a change of behavior from you."
Axel stopped.
Tao said, "I want you to spend less time staring at my brother."
The couch springs squeaked as if someone had stood. "So I'm not allowed to acknowledge the Crown Prince of All Chenaya and the Conquered Territories?"
Another creak of furniture, and Tao said, "Acknowledgement is one thing. Stalking is quite something else."
"Really, Tao, listen to yourself. I honestly don't know how you can accuse me of something as ridiculous as that. I haven't spoken one word to your brother since I got here." A guilty laugh followed. Then Kestrel said, "Perhaps we both need to work on . . . things."
"I would appreciate that."
Kestrel cleared her throat, then said, "Maybe our . . . first kiss would help."
Spare me! Axel slumped against the wall and buried his thumb and forefinger into the corners of his eyes. Thankfully, the sounds of kissing were brief, painfully so for a man and woman standing on the brink of wedlock.
Tao's voice rang out. "I'm starving. Let's track down dinner."
"But my black eye-"
"You're going to be my wife. No one will dare say anything," Tao interrupted, heading toward the door.
Axel intercepted Tao, who held Kestrel's arm. Tao gave him a strained smile.
"You're still here?" Kestrel demanded.
"Like I said, I'm looking for Lynx." He smiled at Tao and, guessing he was stirring the pot, asked, "Have you seen her?"
Kestrel shot Tao a warning look, grabbed Tao's hand, and started dragging him toward the doorway.
Axel strode over to Lynx's door and, without bothering to knock, opened it a crack. "Hey, you here? I have news. Of a kind."
There was no answer, so he pushed the door open wide.
The room was deserted.
The first jolts of fear bit into him. He loped to the bathroom and banged on the door. When no one replied, he pushed that door open, too, and faced another empty room. That left her dressing room. A quick search revealed it was empty, with everything in its place.
He stood still, thinking. If Lynx had been wearing a gemstone, he could have traced her on his informa. Without that, finding her would require a visit to his father's lair to trawl through all the palace cameras-a task that would take hours.
Could she be with Lukan? Although that seemed unlikely, it was the only rational explanation, beyond things he didn't want to imagine. They would probably be in the great hall, preparing to attend the dinner with the dignitaries invited to the wedding.
That made sense.
Walking fast, he made his way to the great hall, down passages and hallways devoid of any signs of two impending royal weddings. He stopped at the double doors and looked at the imperial dais at the top of the hall.
Neither Lynx nor Lukan were there.
A fresh wave of fear hit him, chilling him to the core. He folded his arms to calm his pounding heart and roved his eyes over the tables.
A hand painted with intricate henna designs slipped under his arm. "You look troubled, Ax." Malika's dancing brown eyes were questioning. Her cerise silk gown gleamed in the torchlight like a living thing.
He gave his sister a strained smile. "Have you seen Lynx?"
"Don't tell me you've managed to lose her, too." She grinned at him. "She's going to think Chenayan men a pretty useless lot if you and Tao are anything to go by."